Brave citizen loses race, wins hearts of her neighbors
Autumn Sharp challenged state Sen. Lisa Reynolds "for lying" and made a point
Northwest District resident Autumn Sharp failed to unseat District 17 state Sen. Lisa Reynolds in the May 19 primaries, receiving 13% of the vote. Sharp also failed to win an endorsement from Willamette Week.
But all was smiles at her election night “victory party” at the Northwest Hostel Cafe. She proudly held up a DIY “brave citizen award” citing the honorable mention she received from Willamette Week.
“From one vantage, Sharp has already won a victory here and taught Reynolds a lesson,” it read, quoting the newspaper.
The lesson had to do with Reynolds blaming neighborhood activists for refusing to compromise on a bill they supported to regulate pop-up needle and drug paraphernalia handouts plaguing the Northwest 19th and Burnside area for years. Reynolds killed the bill in her committee, blaming supporters for refusing to compromise on its terms.
Sharp and others in Friends of Couch Park and Stadiumhood neighbors called that a lie: They were never given the opportunity to compromise on the terms, which they would have been willing to do had they been asked.
Hours after accepting the challenge to oppose Reynolds at a Friends of Couch Park meeting in March, Sharp told the NW Examiner, “I know I won’t win, but lying makes me really mad, and if I lied to the public and then hid in my office, I’d get fired. I want to at least make her cake walk a little less cakey this spring.”
After offering several rationalizations for killing the bill, Reynolds shared something approaching an apology with the Examiner after the election.
“I will acknowledge that I wasn’t as responsive to the community as I probably could have or should have been,” she said.
She also pledged to work for a new version of the bill for the 2027 legislative session.
Friends of Couch Park President Kara Colley had a surprise for the candidate.
Thank you, Autumn